Virtual Friday: Beyond Second Life May 17, 2013

In this Post: Several articles & videos about the metaverse, changes in SecondLife  talked about on Treet.tv, and I get out of my little box and explore other virtual worlds besides Second Life. Come along for the adventure!

Note: I am not an expert at the technological aspects of the metaverse. I’m only sharing what I’ve read and experienced.

Hello dear ones and welcome to Virtual Friday! I decided to interrupt my new series on the educational aspect of Second Life so I can share a bit of metaverse news.  What is the metaverse?

“The Metaverse is a collective online shared space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical reality and physically persistent virtual space,^[1] including the sum of all virtual worlds, augmented reality, and the internet.”

~Wikipedia

Second Life is pretty much the mother of the Metaverse. It pretty much brought this idea to life of a new world in cyberspace. A place where people from all over the world could meet, work, and create. You may say, well the internet does that, but these virtual spaces are quite different from text on a screen or flat pictures on Facebook.  In the metaverse people are able to create what they can not in the physical world. They are able to express themselves in fantastical ways. It is a place where one’s imagination becomes reality and other people can enter that reality. There is an economical and business aspect of these virtual worlds. People make their living here and big companies invest in the Metaverse.

   There has been much discussion in the Metaverse about the state of Second Life. Many believe Linden Labs will eventually fall. The price of tiers in Second Life is ridiculous and it seems since the change in leadership Linden Labs is trying to make Second Life into a game.  It has never been a game though there are games in it. It is a world full of places created by other users. Some sims have games. Some sims have art galleries and universities. There are people learning how to speak other languages in virtual classrooms. Some sims have shopping centers and some have concert halls. While many are role playing lands Second Life can’t be lumped into one category as a game. There isn’t one objective where you try to win or advance. Second Life can be whatever you want it to be.  I hope Linden Labs will keep Second Life true to what it was in the beginning. Many people make a living from their jobs in Second Life. It would be sad to oust a whole community of users who have been around for years just to make a profit. There are plenty of virtual games out there but few virtual worlds in the Metaverse that have the quality and diversity of Second Life.

So because of the constant doomsdayers I’ve decided to branch out into other virtual worlds…just in case Second Life does fall. I’ll share more about that later. I really enjoy the quality of Second Life and I hope it does survive. I pray Linden Labs will listen to the people. There are a few developments that have my hopes high. Designing Worlds, a tv show in the virtual world, has an episode talking about changes in Second Life. The changes are supposed to significantly up the visual quality inworld.  For those interested, here is a link to the show:

http://treet.tv/shows/designingworlds/episodes/project-materials

By the way, if you want to watch machinima and interesting shows about the virtual world, Treet.tv is a great place to do it. You can even watch snail races, which is a big sport in Second Life.

Will Second Life use Oculus Rift? It looks like that’s coming in the future. What is Oculus Rift? Imagine being completely immersed in a virtual world by wearing head gear. You’ve most likely heard of these devices before but imagine using that in Second Life. It’s one thing to be able to use Oculus Rift in a game where there are certain objectives and you have limited control but on the grid, where the skies the limit? Other devices work with the arms and such. We already have similar tech with the Nintendo Wii and such but people are still aware of their real surroundings. I’m telling you, SL already feels somewhat real just staring at the screen in a dark room. I can only imagine what it’d be like with Oculus Rift. The question is how expensive will this be and how long before it’s compatible with SL?

Check out this article on hypergridbusiness and the video of a 90 year old woman trying out the technology:

http://www.hypergridbusiness.com/2013/05/big-things-on-the-horizon/

For any fellow Christians who have seen the end times movies that show virtual reality being used as the mark of the beast, well this is a bit scary.  I have no clue if this technology will ever be used in that way but I believe most anything can be used either for good or evil. I hope to show on my blog, that the metaverse can be used for good and even for spreading the gospel. It is a mission field…a new world with many opportunities. It’s a bit of a jungle. You’ve got to know how it works and what’s safe.

Moving on…I signed up for three virtual worlds and here are my experiences with them:

InWorldz

Inworldz was my second world to explore but I liked it the best. It was the closest to what I have experienced in Second Life. I have to laugh at being a noob/ newbie again. It’s been 4 and a half years since I was a newbie in Second Life. I’ve learned a lot in that time so it was pretty embarrassing to start again in a new world….to show up with a crappy avatar that walks like a drunk cat. Also there was this sign above my head that said “Help me!”.

Okay, so even though it’s a virtual world, I still have my pride. This was rather humbling for me. There were all these experienced Inworldz people there to help us newbies. So when a girl tried to help me I just asked her for a notecard with instructions and a quiet place to gather my thoughts. I mumbled about how I have a nice house in Second Life and a pretty avatar…how I’ve been there for a long time. How embarrassing it was to be a noob again. I probably sounded like an idiot. I ended up needing more help than I thought but once I was pointed in the right direction I went on the search for the perfect shape and skin.

I was sad to see how limited the choices were…especially for child avatars. I guess I’m a bit of a virtual snob because I didn’t like any of the child avatars and their clothes. I determined this after searching for hours. But keep in mind that Second Life is about to celebrate it’s tenth birthday and Inworldz is fairly new.  I think it’s in it’s third or fourth year. So it’s going to take awhile for them to build up their businesses and such. Child avatars are controversial anyways. I’ll go into that later. I chose to become an adult avatar. I’m not very satisfied with her but I didn’t want to spend too much money in a new world. By the way, Inworldz has a similar monetary system to Second Life. Instead of Lindens they use Izzies. It’s a bit cheaper.

I found the search engine to be adequate and I spent the rest of the night finding a place to live. Cheap places were hard to find…especially apartments. I found an old trailer park and paid for a week. I was disappointed by the owner who never added me to the group. So I couldn’t put any furniture down. A couple of days later I found an open house (meaning no doors & limited privacy) but it was big and super cheap. All of my furniture except the paintings are from freebie shops.  So far Inworldz is agreeable but it does not have as much as SecondLife. Maybe I will find a few good places later and share them with you.

It would be great if Inworldz had a database of all their places so it’d be easy to find what you want. Also, certain sims would shut down or had disappeared altogether though they were on the welcome card. This world is not completely stable.  If it can grow then maybe it will be as successful and enjoyable as SecondLife in the near future.  I just wish it had an open grid where you can teleport to other worlds. Instead Inworldz is closed off just like SecondLife. It’s an island to itself in the metaverse.

OSGrid

First, I’ll say the one thing I liked in OSGrid. When I arrived they had easy instructions. I wasn’t embarrassed by a bunch of people trying to help me. I realize this is a personal preference. Some people may prefer having an actual person help them.  Because I’ve been “virtual” for several years I like my privacy.  So I just followed the signs.

Now onto the negatives. Unfortunately, I don’t have much good to say about OSGrid.  First, they have banned child avatars.  I don’t mean actual children. I mean adults choosing a child like avatar. I realize that child avatars are controversial but there are enough rules in SL to keep people from misusing the avatars. I’ve found that many people who choose to be a virtual child (including myself) do so because they want the non-sexual and innocent side of the virtual world. Some are reliving their childhood. I personally don’t like the immodest clothing and figures of adult avatars. I find that as a child avatar less weirdos try to talk to me. And if they do I can report them because SL is strict about how child like avatars are treated. The sims made just for child avatars are always g-rated and fun.

So I don’t see how OSgrid thinks it’s protecting children online when real life children aren’t allowed to be in these virtual worlds anyways.  These child avatars are real life adults. It’s no different than people who choose to have an animal avatar but they aren’t banned. By the way, I tried out an animal shape for the fun of it…a little girl mouse. I hated it so I eventually found a decent woman avatar.

Secondly, OSgrid has the worst lag I’ve seen. Every time I got on it took a good while for my clothing to load and several times I got kicked off.

Thirdly, the search engine isn’t limited to OSgrid. It’s basically takes you to a google like engine. I need to be able to search for places in OSgrid and not worry about everything else popping up. I had the hardest time finding places. I’m wondering if OSgrid really doesn’t have many places or if they are too complicated to find.

Fourthly, there is no monetary system except ones others have set up and they aren’t very secure. I love to shop virtually and I can’t do that in OSgrid. Forget trying to find a house. It took me forever just to get decent clothes.

If OSgrid can fix it’s lag issues then maybe I’ll give it another chance. I’m glad it’s an open grid but I don’t see how anyone can handle the confusion….especially those completely new to virtual worlds.

Kitely

I don’t have any pictures. I was never able to get it running. Kitely is cloud based…which doesn’t make any sense to me. It costs money to set up your own region and some regions charge their visitors for visiting. I tried to enter a couple of free worlds via the website but either the Kitely plug in or the third party viewer didn’t work.  Kitely seems to be popular but until I can get in it I don’t know what to think. Should it be so hard just to get started? Kitely doesn’t seem to be very new comer friendly.  If I have any luck later I will let you know.

In conclusion, I truly hope Second Life can clean up it’s act and stick around. I really enjoy many of the sims there. But if SL does eventually fall I sure hope these other virtual worlds have stepped up their game. I hope it will be easier in the future to get a place on the grid and to world jump. I hope it won’t be so expensive.  For now, I’m staying put in SL but I will continue to explore other worlds when I can.

God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Laugh Yourself Silly Thursday: Disco the Parakeet, Crazy Board Game, & Sip of Tea May 16, 2013

In this Post: Hilarious videos~ Disco the parakeet, a Rhett & Link video, & my favorite Robertson from Duck Dynasty, Uncle Si. Remember email subscribers to come to my blog to see the videos.

I’m going to start with my favorite celebrity, Si Robertson. He reminds me so much of my Dad. I recently got a t-shirt with his face on it….creepy…maybe but hey they’re the ones that sell them. I’m not a stalker I promise. The Robertson’s just remind me of my redneck family members. The end of this vid makes them look like super heroes and I guess they are my adult super heroes.  Woot Duck Dynasty! Hey Jack that’s a fact!

Work Hard, Nap Hard~ Si Robertson (sip of tea video)

Disco the Parakeet kissed a cheeseburger

Chris and I have watched several of these videos and are pretty sure that the bird is really doing the talking. I was a skeptic at first but not anymore.

Most Complicated Board Game Ever ~Rhett & Link

It’s funny because the beginning of this video starts out like a real game we played with friends and it was very confusing at first. But then the video gets awful crazy. Gotta love Rhett & Link’s twisted humor .

God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Crafty Monday: The Hobbit, Lilacs, and Magnetism May 14, 2013

Hello dear ones and a late happy Mother’s day! Michael is still reading The Hobbit so I wanted to further encourage him by making a lapbook. I was inspired by this blog:

http://www.homegrownlearners.com/home/2013/2/21/the-hobbit-a-unit-study.html

I will include my Pinterest with more ideas at the end of this post. The front of the lapbook has The Hobbit written in runes and Bilbo’s name written in Elvish. We’ve been tracking Bilbo and the gang’s journey on the map. On my Pinterest you will find a link to  help map Bilbo’s journey.

On the back I pasted pictures of the dwarves. Gandalf and Bilbo were found through Google search. I copied the Misty Mountain’s Cold song from the book and pasted the lyrics.

Home Grown Learners’ blog has the link for translating runes. I copied the message I had typed and had Michael translate it with the key.  It says “Mommy loves Michael more than dwarvish treasure.”

He had so much fun that he decided to translate the runes on Bilbo’s map. It’s 6 lines long and took awhile but Michael was so excited.  He’s been writing in runes ever since….leaving notes for us here and there.

Michael reads a chapter a day. I printed out The Hobbit vocabulary words and a question sheet. He answers three questions per chapter. The vocab. is just for reference.

We went online to the Lord of the Rings name generator. Michael’s hobbit name was Perom Goatcloset of the Shire. He was most proud of his dwarvish name though.

We practiced singing “Misty Mountains Cold” and downloaded the music.

Michael’s also been copying parts of the book. This was the sloppiest of them all but I thought it was a wonderful line to copy.  Michael’s been doing this on his own and I’m happy that he’s so enthusiastic.

Lord willing, we will have more Hobbit fun next week .

Art

Painting with magnets

Q-tip Lilac painting

Michael’s still doing the typing program I told you about awhile back. I really like how it keeps up with his progress and shows which letters he got wrong.

Science~ Fun with Magnets

We are still having fun with the magnetic science kit my sister sent. We did several experiments last week. Here’s one you can try…

You will need a strong magnet, anything iron, a ruler, a steel knife, plastic wrap, fabric, aluminum foil, and cardboard.

First we slowly inched the big magnet towards the iron. We marked where the iron came to the magnet. Then we put the different items in front of the magnet and tested if it changed where the iron met the magnet.

Lastly, we tried the steel knife. Only it changed the magnetism by a small bit.

Michael read “The Magic School Bus: Amazing Magnetism“.

We’ve been preparing for Pentecost (it’s tomorrow actually). Michael has been studying the story of Ruth and also of Hannah.

Little man got his A.W.A.N.A.’s award at church.

Then had fun afterwards. I had to get home but I think he’s throwing a pie….not sure.

It was another laid back week. As I promised, here’s the Pinterest link for your own Hobbit adventures .

The Hobbit Pinterest Link~ remember email sub. to come to my blog to see the link.

God bless and remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Virtual Friday: T2 Virtual PTSD Experience May 10, 2013

In this post: The Virtual PTSD Experience is a sim dedicated to help soldiers that suffer from PTSD. It’s also good for helping family members to understand PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). Simulators show the symptoms of PTSD.

You can visit it here:

Visit T2 PTSD Education (133, 198, 29)

I was pleased to find this gem in Second Life. My hubby deployed to Iraq twice and has mild PTSD. I’m branching out into more educational and helpful sims.  The PTSD experience was a great place to start.

I did everything backwards but I’m going to post the proper order. First, you’re supposed to suit up and take a ride through an Afghan market.

Here’s the map with the different areas: causes, symptoms, & next steps.

This picture says it all. Children should not go through this simulation.

I went to the low intensity market. It was still a bit unsettling. It’s nothing to what soldiers have to face in real life. I can only imagine being in a crowded city and any person in the crowd could be a terrorist.

So I rode the Humvee through the market. It goes into mouse look view (as if you’re looking through your own eyes). It made me scan back n forth through the market.

Then there’s a terrorist and gun fire from out of nowhere. A bomb goes off.

It’s much more crowded in real life. My hubby was in Iraq but he also had to go into crowded cities. Even kids could be carrying bombs. Who do you trust? People start looking the same. It’s different from the states. You don’t know where the enemy is. Everyone is suspect.

Now it’s time to redeploy and head home to the states. Through out the simulation many strangers look like the terrorist. It’s another case of not knowing who the enemy is. Can you even trust the baggage carrier? PTSD makes life hard.

Waiting to board. I’m already anxious even though this isn’t real. I think it’s because I went to the symptoms mall first and it really got me on edge. By the way, there’s a stress HUD you wear and it shows you your health and anxiety levels in different situations as if you have PTSD. But I’m talking about my real life anxiety too.

The plane ride is bumpy and feels like forever. Then you go down the tunnel and “people” are waiting.

I remember this part in real life. I did this twice and it was nerve wracking. Sometimes we waited several hours. Flights could be late. Deployments were sometimes extended.

Now on to the mall. This part tripped me out.

The mall simulates symptoms people with PTSD have. Not every one has the same symptoms. Every soldier is different but I will say that I know for a fact these are common symptoms.

The candy shop was trippy. The words on the board faded out and the words “all of them died” stood out. I had to do a double take. I thought maybe it was my imagination but I learned that the simulation changes things as you walk. So you never know what’s going to happen.

There are information hubs all over the mall. Click on the letter I and it will quiz you on PTSD info. Then it gives details on each subject.

A kid center in the mall changed and began to look like…

the Afghan market.

Images of memories popped up suddenly. Gunfire went off but it turned out to be the popcorn machine.

A portion of the mall suddenly felt like the gun range. You can hear the soldiers crying out.

I was getting paranoid. I didn’t know what would pop up next. Was the window washer really a sniper? That kid’s phone looked like a bomb. There’s a section that talks about relationship troubles, sleep issues, & even needing to sit in a safe seat when out and about. I think the scariest thing was the unexpected and I can see how that is true for people with PTSD. A loud sound can bring back memories. It takes awhile to feel safe in public…especially crowds. Some soldiers suffer many many years with PTSD. My heart goes out to those who went to Vietnam especially.

When the stress meter gets too high you can hit the relax button and transport to a tranquil place. Now if only real life was like that! There’s also a recovery area with tons of resources for those suffering with PTSD.

Here’s an app:

This is a great website for counseling etc…

It’s fantastic that there’s a place like this in the virtual world. I think it helped me to understand my husband just a bit more. If you know someone with PTSD or you have it, I pray you will share these resources with them. No one should have to suffer alone. There is help. There’s no shame. My prayers go out to you.

God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Laugh Yourself Silly Thursday: May Holiday Challenge May 9, 2013

Rhett & Link’s May Holiday Challenge ~ email sub. come to my blog to see the video .

God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Organizational Ability-to be or not to be May 7, 2013

Reblogged from Ann Littlefield:

Hi everyone!   Welcome back to the world of handwriting analysis.   So, have you asked yourself these questions a lot; "Where is it? or where did I put it?"  Do you frantically hunt through papers for that 'bill' you misplaced?  Perhaps then, you lack the ability to be organized.

In handwriting, the letter 'F' reveals a lot about your ability to be organized or not.

Read more… 399 more words

Yaaa! My Mom is back to blogging. Here's a reblog if you can't see it then come to my site. Show her some love and learn about the super cool science of Handwriting analysis. By the way, my "f" loop is balanced on top and bottom. Which one are you? Let her know in her comments section. I'm proud to have such a smart Mama. God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Crafty Monday:Earthworms & Mozart May 6, 2013

In this post: Earthworms, a bird cage, a sunflower, magnetic science, Mozart, and tadpoles. 

Hello dear ones! I hope you had a great weekend . We had an interesting week. Here’s the highlights .  We found an earth worm in Nana’s flower bed. She was gracious enough to let us take him/her. By the way, earthworms are hermaphrodites.

We did this great earthworm lapbook from currclick.com

Link here: http://www.currclick.com/product/82514/Earthworms—Speedy-Lapbook

We observed our worm and where his/her parts were for a bit then put him in with our flower box.

This nifty bird cage was a joint effort.

http://creaturecomfortsblog.com/home/2010/01/07/diy-paper-bird-cage-party-decor.html

Michael made this sunflower out of his hand prints and a paper plate.

We opened up our Magnetic Science kit for science last week. We did five of the experiments and will do more this week.

We made this iron tube magnetic by attaching it to the rectangle magnet.

It’s magnetic when attached but when you take it off…

It loses it’s magnetism. You can’t see it very well in the picture but the magnets were falling off.

Music

Mozart listening lesson~ I explained to Michael that music can have a mood to it and can make you think of things. I had him listen to Mozart’s “A Little Night Music”. He had to close his eyes. Then he wrote what it made him think of and drew a picture.  It was a hard exercise for him. I had to encourage him to think of what season, time of day, and surroundings come to mind. Honestly, I think he was “inspired” by the episode of Duck Dynasty we had watched. Michael claims that’s not true.  You can see that his picture is of the beach and surfing. The Duck Dynasty episode was about their Hawaiian vacation.

Chris listened t0o and it made him think about a psychotic serial killer with a knife. Okay, so I was thinking night time, powdered wigs, and dancing under the moonlight in winter time. I don’t really understand where the guys got their ideas lol. It’s all about interpretation huh? ;P

I have a love for music and how it stirs the imagination. So I drug this lesson out. It ended with me sharing the story of “Braveheart” and how each song on the soundtrack brought up certain feelings and made me think of the parts in the movie. I showed Michael a few clips from the movie. Chris stuck his head in and started giving the “freedom” speech. Yes, it was an interesting day.

Michael is still reading The Hobbit (and probably will be for awhile). I decided that he had to read it at night on his time. Well, it’s worked and he actually read faster and was excited.

I gave him a simpler book to read during school time. Five chapters a day was easy in this book and Michael finished it by Friday.  I’ll probably let him read “The Hobbit” some during class this week but I want to mix in books on his reading level and non-fiction.

This was actually the weekend but I wanted to show you Michael’s new boots. We both got cheap ponchos and Michael played in the mud.

If it wasn’t so cold I think we’d have stayed longer. This weather is crazy here in the southern U.S. One minute it’s hot and the next cold. It’s usually rather warm in May.

Finally, a picture of our tadpoles. I really need to change the water or build them a pond out back. Michael thinks we need to name them but I don’t feel like naming 25 critters. Maybe we can name the earthworm though…if he/she’s still alive. I’d have to dig to find out.

We learned a bit about life cycles with the study below. We had a chance to see a chicken at our homeschool group but didn’t make it. What we missed is shown here at Rachel’s blog:

http://www.homeschoolingmom2mags.blogspot.com/2013/05/life-cycle-of-chicken.html

So I know this is educational some way. Chris finally hooked up this race track my Mom had bought for Michael.  I’m thinking it would be fun with marbles too…not just cars.

So dear ones do you have any critters at your house? Do your kids like to catch tadpoles etc? Or maybe you don’t have kids and you just like to catch things? I’ll be honest. I still love to catch frogs and have since I was a little girl…though the other little girls screamed eeeeww! and thought I was weird. Man, they missed out.  If you have had tadpoles what’s your advice for taking care of them? When I was a kid I was better at accidentally killing them…like by feeding them grits (bad idea). I love hearing from you!

God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover